Red Raiders off to best start in history

If you had told Madison County head coach Tom Hybl that his team would be 6-0 with one game left to play before its first off-week of the year, the veteran coach would have probably laughed.

He knew that his team had the heart to compete, he just didn't know if they had the experience to compile an unbeaten record.

Each week, his team began to prove him wrong.

After a 20-7 thrashing of Warren County last Friday, the Red Raiders improved to 6-0 to assure themselves of only the fifth winning season in the program's history.

Furthermore, the win helped Madison County streak out to its best start ever.

Hybl said that the 1991 team went 5-0 before losing in the sixth game.

Such a start has made football the talk of the town in Danielsville, a community where baseball is more often the topic of conversation. Still Hybl is cautious when talking about Madison County's success.

''To be honest with you, we really have talked a whole lot about (starting 6-0),'' Hybl said. ''We're just trying to take it one game at a time. But I do have to admit, that this wasn't a realistic goal for us at the start of the season. It's just one of those things that became to be an opportunity for us as the season progressed.''

Instilling a winning tradition isn't an easy task Hybl admits. It's why he opted to have the Red Raiders play a non-region schedule for this season. The results have paid off so far.

Up next for Madison County is a program in a similar position. Union Grove, in its first year of fielding a football team, is also playing a non-region schedule, though with very different results.

The Wolverines are 0-5 after a 31-19 loss to Spalding last week.

In a unique twist, the two teams will meet twice this year. After the traveling to Union Grove Friday, Madison County will host the Wolverines on Oct. 27.

''When we ended up having to reshuffle our schedule the second time, we were left with only a nine-game schedule and they only had eight games,'' Hybl said. ''We messed around with our schedules and this lets us have the opportunity to play a full schedule. I won't want to pay them in another year or so though. They dress out 75 players roughly and once they get a couple of years under their belt, they're going to be a tough team.''